


No Care No Cause

by scrapmetal



Series: No Care No Cause Cinematic Universe [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Clone Wars Never Start, Gen, M/M, but also probably not in a great way, tags for characters will be added as they're introduced
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:14:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23865082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrapmetal/pseuds/scrapmetal
Summary: The reality that there wasn’t going to be a war sank in when the youngest of the vode was decanted.It's been 18 years since the clones had been ordered and put into production, 18 years without the war they were designed for. Boba wants answers, for the sake of all his siblings. The Jedi seem to be the only ones who have those answers, but really, what does anyone know?
Relationships: 99 & Boba Fett, CC-2224 | Cody & Boba Fett, CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: No Care No Cause Cinematic Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1744516
Comments: 61
Kudos: 346





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My friends have called this the saddest everyone lives/no one dies au possible. Good luck! I have plans for things to get better but y'know there's still gonna be some trials and tribulations. Also if you notice pronouns switching around uh, what more can I say than clones trans?

The reality that there wasn’t going to be a war sank in when the youngest of the _vode_ was decanted. 

The initial order called for many more clones, over a million, but that wasn’t accounting for the lack of casualties they faced. The halt in production was due to a lack of resources, a lack of space. _Vode_ were practically falling out of the vents. Well, not practically. Cody had seen many of his siblings fall out of the vents, and he wouldn’t be surprised if it was because of the cramped quarters they all shared.

No one really realized that the batch that was decanted that day would be the last, because by some sort of coincidence it was also Boba’s 18th birthday. Perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence, maybe the math just lined up, but in a community where thousands of _vode_ had the same birthday, Boba’s was the one everyone celebrated, as he was the first. That and the fact that it was always a sign that he was finally growing up, despite how far he lagged behind everyone else. 

It was fun, the celebrations turned the whole place upside down, more like a holiday than anything else. Boba might’ve been out on a run in the terrible Kaminoan rain, avoiding the noise, but the celebrations were about more than just him. It was also about the rest of them, and also just the sake of it. 

Their youngest _vod’ika_ first opened their eyes to this wonder, a brother gently showing them the view. CT-79-9999 was their number, but a name would come quicker than most as _vode_ realized that they were the youngest sibling they'd ever have. 

* * *

Boba looked like he'd just gone for a swim by the time he came in from his run. A river snaked all the way from the tiny maintenance door he snuck through to his dorm, ruining any sort of stealth he had. 

“You should treat yourself to an umbrella next time you’re out,” Cody remarked upon Boba’s arrival, not looking up from his holopad. “A birthday present for yourself.”

“ _Why_ are you always in here? I need to change.”

“You have such a nice reading chair and you don't even use it.”

Boba muttered under his breath as Cody slipped out of the small room to allow for some privacy. Boba didn't care, not really. He was one of the only _vode_ with a dorm, and even then the only person he had to share it with was his father, everyone else bunked with their squads. It would take many more siblings in the room to actually make him mad. 

And Cody knew he could get lonely in there. The stretches of time when Boba had the room to himself were getting longer as Jango became busier. 

Boba knocked on the door from the inside and Cody went back in to the sight of him dawning the entirety of his _beskar’gam_ , he was preparing to go out, maybe get that umbrella. Cody raised an eyebrow and Boba stuck out his tongue.

“How many happy birthdays have you received today?”

Boba stopped what he was doing to think before a devilish grin appeared on his face. “Only 43.”

“We're halfway through the day, that's a record, right?”

“Yep. The run worked.” Boba replied. His hair was still dripping.

“Well, happy birthday.”

“Fuck you.”

Cody just smiled. “I was bound to say it eventually, you know. How many pranks have you been gifted?”

Boba scowled and put on his helmet, which now sported a bright pink mustache, horribly clashing with its usual mossy green paint job. “Plenty.”

“Since you're going out, I'll remind you _my_ 18th is just around the corner, just in case.”

“I'll buy you your first drink, old man.”

“Rude, Bob’ika!”

“See you in an hour!”

“Don't run out of fuel and fall into the ocean.”

Kaminoan shopping districts were quite boring, according to Boba, “hardly worth anyone's time and barely even worth the fly,” but he often allowed _vode_ to impersonate him and go in his stead. It was an occasional thing, as to not raise suspicion, but he tried his best to do what he could.

Cody returned to their seat in Boba’s room, deciding to keep the door open this time to let others know quickly that Boba wasn't there. A few determined pranksters decided that if they couldn't prank Boba, Cody was the next best thing, but otherwise it was a fairly uneventful reading session, unlike when the door was closed and _vode_ constantly came knocking.

As an hour slipped into two, Cody looked up to find Boba’s armor stripped off and scattered on his bed. He must've come in fairly quickly and quietly, or Cody’s book was just that good. 

Boba may have been avoiding the clone facilities for the entire first half of the day, but Cody knew that he had other things to do that day that couldn't be done remotely. 

Having your birthday on the same day as the other birthday everyone celebrates would, theoretically, kinda suck. That's what Boba said about it anyways, and so he made sure to visit as many of the _vode_ that shared a birthday with him and give them well wishes. He also visited the bacta tubes of the littlest of unborn siblings to keep track, and maybe whisper an early apology for the overshadowed birthday. Getting around the facilities and being able to locate specific _vode_ Boba knew only from a once a year visit was probably more of a workout for him than the run he went on that morning. Cody wasn't jealous at all, but he felt a strange sort of pride seeing Boba care like that. It was definitely something he had grown into.

When Boba finally returned he was covered in glitter, soaking wet again, and had a very abstract dick scribbled on his face. He skipped the greeting and went straight to diving onto his bunk, which still had his armor on it. 

Cody winced as Boba slammed his forehead into his helmet. 

“How was your trip?”

Boba rolled over, carelessly pushing bits of armor out of his way as he did so. 

“There was _so_ much glitter. How did they get all that glitter?”

Cody sighed. “Dedication can overcome anything I guess. Just be glad it wasn't anything less… Festive.”

Boba scoffed before lapsing into a long, thoughtful silence. 

When Boba finally spoke again, he was strangely quiet. “I went to visit the growth tanks, like always. The uh, the batch they decanted today? It's the last one.”

Cody blinked. “They-- what? Production stopped?”

Boba shrugged. “Probably stopped a few months ago. I asked the Kaminoans and apparently there's no more space in the facilities to hold any more of us.”

Cody leaned back on the chair, a realization forming in his mind that made his stomach sink.

“There really isn't going to be a war, huh? And the jedi… It's been 8 years since they were supposed to check in on the whole production, war or not. They aren't coming.”

“Yeah,” Boba responded tightly, “they aren't.”

Cody chewed at his lip, worrying a bit at Boba's tone. “The Kaminoans can't afford to get rid of us now that we're here, Bob’ika. We'll be alright.”

Boba rolled over to the wall. “But you'll all just be here. Forever,” he muttered, barely loud enough for Cody to hear. 

Cody sighed and got up, sensing Boba didn't want him in his room anymore. “There's worse places to be, _vod_. We're lucky we aren't all dying out on a battlefield somewhere.”

If Boba replied to Cody’s last comment, they didn't hear it through the door as they left the room. He sighed. Boba's anger wasn't unfounded, not at all, Cody definitely was feeling some of it themself, but Boba was much more impulsive than Cody, and he had many more directions available for his impulses to take him. 

Cody walked around slowly, aimlessly in thought, hoping Boba hadn't gotten too upset that it ruined his birthday for real. The _vode_ Cody saw as he passed were all in the midst of celebration, and he wondered how they would react to the news that would soon come and spread like wildfire. They wondered how many would come to the conclusion he and Boba had, and what exactly everyone would do about it. 

The birthday marked a new era for the clones, and Cody didn't quite know what that would look like.

\--

Cody couldn't sleep that night. 

Boba had come out of his room eventually, which was good, but although things returned to relative normal for Boba's birthday, Cody caught a look on his face during quiet moments that only meant one thing. He was scheming. 

Cody had no idea what Boba was planning, but considering Jango was out, it couldn't be anything less than reckless. Cody wouldn't be too surprised if Boba's plan was playing out right now. In fact--

Rex was sound asleep on Cody’s bunk, arm lazily draped around his brother’s form. For years now, Rex rarely slept in his pod. At first, Cody let him into the dorm because of his fear of being taken to be decommissioned during the dead of night. There may have been little reason to fear that at this moment, but Rex still slept with Cody because he lost the ability to sleep in such a cramped space. Not that Cody ever minded. 

Except for when Cody wanted to leave the bed without waking his brother, like he did at that moment. They very much did mind the arm draped on them, and as he moved it off his chest, he had to reassure Rex that they'd be right back. 

Cody just had to find Boba, make sure he was asleep. It was fine, wouldn't take long. 

And it didn't take long, but not because Boba was in his dorm, asleep. It was because he was just outside his door, clad in his durasteel armor.

“Boba!” Cody hissed, lightly jogging toward their brother. “What are you doing?”

“I'm going to find the Jedi and find out why they haven't come for you all, why this all started in the first place, and I'm going alone.”

“Boba.”

Boba pushed his way past Cody and down the hallway. “I'm the oldest, I'm the one the Kaminoans won't miss. I'm the one who has to do it, and I have to do it now.”

Cody put a hand on Boba's shoulder and turned him around. “You’re not the oldest for these types of things, Bob’ika. If you’re going to do this, I’m coming with you.”

Boba stood there silently for a while in thought before he sighed and continued walking. “Fine. You can come, just don’t pick up any of your batchmates along the way or anything.”

“What about Rex?”

“This is why I didn’t want you to come.” 

“I’m just joking!”

Boba looked back like he wasn’t sure if Cody was telling the truth, and then moved on. The two doubled back to Cody’s dorm to get his armor, Boba silently opening the closet where it was stored and selecting the one with the sunset painted on the chest. The plastoid was almost completely covered with paint, the shiny white poking through to create a pattern rather than add to the sunset itself. Cody was a fairly good artist, especially as they had time to practice over the years, but still he had to have Boba help with the actual sunset, never having seen one himself. Kamino was much too rainy and dark for one, and the holonet could only help so much.

“Did you change your mind about plastoid?” Cody whispered jokingly.

“No, I still say making _beskar’gam_ with materials even cheaper than durasteel is disgusting. I’m not letting you go offworld without it though, you’re _Mando’ad_ and others should be able to see that.”

Cody chuckled, quickly slipping into blacks. As he started affixing the plates of his armor however, the door towards his dorm slid open to reveal the bleary face of Rex. He froze for a good minute, staring at Cody slowly continuing to put on his armor. Though he was clearly confused, he didn’t say a thing for a long minute before he too went to the closet and started donning his own rainy blue armor.

“What are you-” Boba started to hiss, grabbing Rex’s shoulder.

“I don’t know where you two are going, but I’m assuming you’d be dead pretty fast without me.”

Boba stomped in place angrily a few times before sighing, accepting his fate. “Fine. But no one else can come. Are we clear?”

They ran into 99 on the way out. Because all this running around in armor was fairly incriminating, he of course stopped the small group and asked them what was going on. Because he was caught in the act, Boba told them everything. And because it was the obvious thing anyone would do, 99 asked if she could come. 

Rex and Cody gave each other a look, expecting Boba to snap at all the _vode_ trying to jump on his previously solo mission, but he was unexpectedly calm as he spoke.

“Y’know what? Yeah! You can come. Would probably appreciate it more than these two _di’kute_ ”

99 blinked in surprise. “Really?”

“Of course, 99. When have I ever lied to you?”

“Well, there were a few times--”

Boba quickly dismissed that with a hand. “Let me rephrase, when have I ever lied to you about things that matter?”

99 chuckled fondly. “Alright, I believe you.”

Cody quietly laughed at themself for his own doubts. An angry Boba might be a dangerous one, but he was still Boba. 

99 piped up again. “...Um, I think it might be helpful to have a few others come along. I know a squad that’ll be just perfect for the mission, I can get them up now if you want.”

Angry Boba might still be Boba, but he was also angry, and as 99 suggested more siblings come along, Cody could tell he snapped. Just a bit.

“Okay! Sure. I’ll be waiting right here! Go get them.”

99 looked at Boba warily, but when he didn’t say anything else, they went off to collect the squad they were talking about.

As soon as 99 disappeared from view, Boba’s foot started tapping.

“At this point I should invite everyone along,” Boba muttered. “I’ll just go up to the Kaminoans and be like, hey! I’m going to sneak offworld with all of my _vode_. Want to come?”

Cody sighed. “99 knows how to be careful, Bob’ika. It’ll be fine. I’m sure this squad really is what he’s hyping them up to be.”

“I know I’m just-”

“Frustrated?”

“Yeah.”

They stood there for a good while, but as nearly synchronized footsteps came down the adjacent hallway, Cody could sense the squad’s nervousness before they even rounded the bend. 

Armor clad but with their helmets off and held at their hips, Cody was quick to look over the faces in the squad. They were a few years younger than Cody, compounded by the accelerated growth. A few had tattoos, one with a small sentence of aurebesh on their neck. They mostly had regulation length hair, though one had an undercut. The one thing that stood out the most, however, was the one with circular nodes in their head, cybernetic enhancements that were an unfriendly reminder of the experiments the Kaminoans had started to carry out over the last few years. Cody wasn’t quite sure what 99 saw in them from a first glance, but he trusted that he’d learn soon. 

The squad was quite tense, and Boba sighed as he saw them march. “At ease, or whatever. I’m just your brother, nothing more.”

The squad immediately deflated, one yawned. One smugly muttered something to another. 

“Um, I guess we should introduce ourselves then,” one of them started. They had a small five tattooed on their temple and a nicely trimmed goatee.

The one with an undercut pushed their way towards Boba. “You've already been introduced to us before! Remember when you were like fo... eight and you got a random cadet to replace you on a trip with Jango? That was me! I was the random cadet.”

Boba froze upon learning this information and groaned. Cody had heard the story before and silently congratulated 99 for making what was most definitely _not_ a coincidence occur. 

“So that means you're Bait,” Boba started, clearly trying his best to remember. “And you're Fives, of course, because you've got the five tattoo… There was an Echo, right?”

The one with the nodes smiled and gave a lazy salute. “That's me, I actually let people call me that now.”

“I'm Cutup,” said the one in the back. Their head was buzzed, they were growing a tidy beard, and Cody still couldn't quite read the aurebesh on their neck. “I didn't have a name at the time, I think you suggested the Mando’a word for rude as a name and told me it meant brave warrior?”

Cody laughed suddenly. “You would, wouldn't you, Bob’ika?”

Boba elbowed them. “Shut up.”

He sounded like he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of his new friends. Cody kept that in mind. 

The one who was, at the start, in front of the group, finally got things back on track with their name. “I'm Hevy, we're the Domino Squad.”

Boba's head tilted in a helmeted smile, Cody couldn't tell how real it was. 

“Well this is Rex,” he pointed to Cody, “and this is Cody,” he pointed to Rex. “Everyone knows 99 so now we can go steal a ship.”

“Wait, we're stealing a ship?” Echo asked before Cody and Rex could clarify their names.

Boba laughed. “Why else would we be up in the middle of the night? Tonight's just the right time to break some rules!”

The whole group turned to leave and one of the Dominos started muttering something after Cody could see who it was. 

“Echo’s gonna end up dead on the floor of the ship for breaking a rule.”

  
“Shut _up_ ,” replied someone who was most likely Echo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't write this much for a single chapter so either get ready for much shorter chapters in the future or just hope and pray I'm able to keep up the momentum. I'm sure most of the Mando'a I use in this chapter is fairly easy to translate either from reading other things or just by context, but here's some translations anyways.
> 
> beskar'gam- armor  
> di'kute- idiots  
> 'ika- diminutive  
> Mando'ad- A child of Mandalore, Mandalorian  
> vod- sibling (plural, vode)  
> vod'ika- younger sibling


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boba’s voice cracked as he started talking. “I’ll uh, admit. I don’t really have a plan for this part.”
> 
> That earned him a whack on his helmet from Cody. 
> 
> “And you planned on doing this alone?”
> 
> “In my defense my brain just kinda skipped to the getting-justice-for-my-vode part.”
> 
> There was another whack to his helmet, this time from Rex.
> 
> “You’ll need to think of a better excuse than that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ever wonder what domino looks like in this au? no? well... too bad. i drew them all anyways.
> 
>   
> 
> 
> thank you to [kyzyner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyzyner/pseuds/kyzyner) for beta reading! please check out their own fic [Too Much Caf](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22612258/chapters/54040909), you won't regret it!

Stealing a ship was fairly easy, even with eight _vode_ Boba didn't plan to bring trailing behind him. 

The squad on guard was fast asleep, a pile of _vode_ clad in color coordinated armor leaning against a wall. They were most likely worn out from the festivities of the day, and night shifts rarely garnered any drama. If Boba weren't in the middle of something, he'd probably take a picture of the group, it was kinda cute. 

The ship itself was fairly small and very Kaminoan; its sleek, oblong shape too sterile for most. They'd be able to fit, sure, but it wasn't made to house more than maybe three people for extended periods of time. It was everyone else's fault it'd be so cramped, but considering the conditions they came from, Boba doubted they'd complain. Part of him wished they would. 

As everyone filed into the ship, Boba slipped into the pilot’s seat and bit his lip. He could fly the thing okay but… It was better to be safe than sorry. 

Boba swiveled around in the chair and called out to the rest of the ship. “Do any of you happen to have pilot training? I can manage this on my own but a copilot would be nice.”

The answer seemed to be no for a good while, but just as Boba turned back around to the dashboard, someone else came into the cockpit. 

Boba swiveled back around to see Echo. As they waved, Boba noticed that on their right hand, their pointer finger had been replaced with a universal socket. Though it seemed no other good sized chunks of Echo had been removed, xyr arm had implants running all the way up, and Boba assumed it ran up to their brain, or at least their spinal cord. He was beginning to see what they were offering. 

“I wasn’t singled out for pilot training as a cadet, but when they added all this, I guess they were trying to make me a human astromech.” Echo shrugged awkwardly. “I've never done it with a real ship, but I’ve done plenty of simulations.”

Boba sighed silently and took off his helmet, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, if you're up to it I'd appreciate the help,” he narrowed his eyes a bit. “But only if you're up to it.”

Maybe Boba was misreading the situation, but he didn’t want Echo to go all self sacrificial on him. Plugging yourself into a computer sounded painful to Boba, but what did he know about that? He did know many _vode_ could benefit from learning how to be a bit more selfish, since being raised as dispensable tended to erase any of that. 

Echo blinked in surprise at Boba’s concern. “I’m up to it! Don’t worry.”

“Alright, plug on in.”

Echo hopped into the copilot’s seat, hunching forwards a bit to reach the port. When they didn't seem to react to mind melding with the ship, Boba relaxed. He wouldn't ever admit to it, even if it was a bit obvious, but he had been pretty worried. 

Takeoff was a breeze, breaking atmosphere didn't raise any suspicion, and soon they were comfortably in hyperspace. They left Kamino, they were long gone. It almost seemed too easy to Boba... too easy. Maybe it was just the calm before a storm they didn't know was coming. Boba tried to hope that wouldn't be the case, but experience tended to make him a pessimist. 

Boba wasn’t alone though, not like he thought he’d be, and so his thoughts weren’t left to spiral quite as badly as they might’ve. 

As Boba’s hands drifted from the ship’s controls, Echo unplugged and leaned back in their chair, back cracking like no tomorrow. Xe sighed and then spoke. “You and Cody are close, right?”

Boba frowned. “Yeah, we grew up together. Not batchmates of course, but close enough.”

Echo nodded slowly. “And here I thought you mostly stayed away from the cloning facilities in the early days.”

“I mean, that’s partially true, but _buir_ was the one who trained the commander squad, and so I tended to tag along.”

“Oh yeah, you used to go everywhere with Prime, right? Except for that one time you kidnapped Bait, I guess.”

Boba sputtered. “I didn’t _kidnap_ Bait and- of _course_ I went everywhere with him, he's my- whatever. Why are you even asking about this?”

Echo shrugged. “Just curious, I guess. It’s not every day you get to pilot with Boba.”

“Ah, yeah.” Boba agreed awkwardly. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to that. The cockpit fell into a stunted silence as the conversation petered out, and Boba grasped onto anything to keep it afloat. 

“Uh, when’s your birthday, Echo?”

Echo blinked in surprise before completely cracking up. “Why do you want to know?”

Boba frowned and turned away in embarrassment. “It’s… Relevant, I guess. I only really know the CCs’ birthday, and Rex’s.”

Echo smiled. “ _Definitely_ relevant. Domino was decanted the 3rd past hept-low, if you ever want to join in on the celebrations.”

“I'll try my best to swing by when it comes around.”

Echo’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?” 

Boba only then realized that Echo had suggested he join the party as a joke. “I mean, only if you're okay with it, of course. Wouldn't want to interrupt some batch bonding time.”

“Oh it's fine I'm just… Surprised, I guess. I mean, it's not like it's only us. There's Hardcase, Tup n’ Dogma, Kix…” Echo rambled off a long list of names Boba desperately tried to stuff into his already overflowing long term memory bank. 

“Well I don’t have anything planned, add me to the list!”

Echo was just about to respond when someone skittered into the cockpit, running at full speed despite the size of the ship.

“Echo!” Fives called for their _vod_. They would’ve looked like they’d just been running laps if giggles weren’t continuing to escape their mouth. “You’ve gotta- come on you- _fuck_. It’s Cody, he’s-” They were cut off by their own laughter as they tried to describe what exactly was happening.

“ _Cody?_ ” Boba repeated incredulously. He did not trust Cody’s sense of humor enough to imagine them being anywhere other than on the unfortunate side of some sort of shenanigans.

“Oh yeah you can come see what’s going on too, Bob’ika.” Fives said with a smirk. “If you want.”

Boba followed the two into the rest of the ship, if only to strangle Cody for introducing Domino to his least favorite nickname. 

\--

Boba was right about the ship being cramped. Even though they'd been in hyperspace for days now, only stopping to refuel, the chaos caused mostly by Domino (and maybe Rex) never slowed. Boba had never felt more like the oldest, despite occasionally being just as bad. After the first incident with Cody, nothing slowed down. At least Boba had the chance to get to know Domino a little better in that time, figure out each batchmate’s quirks. 

The journey slowed down to realspace soon enough though, and the chaos of the _vode_ settled down into a strangely quiet buzz of excitement. 

Boba hadn't been to Coruscant for years, but the _vode_ behind him had never even gotten a chance to leave Kamino. Everyone was crammed up in the cockpit by the time they finally broke atmosphere, staring out of the viewport at the massive city-planet below. The Jedi Temple was easy to find, its location was no secret, but only as he began to circle the place did he realize he had no plan for actually… speaking with the Jedi.

Echo seemed to notice Boba’s uncertainty in his flying. They gave him a questioning look and he winced. 

Boba’s voice cracked as he started talking. “I’ll uh, admit. I don’t really have a plan for this part.”

That earned him a whack on his helmet from Cody. 

“And you planned on doing this _alone?_ ”

“In my defense my brain just kinda skipped to the getting-justice-for-my- _vode_ part.”

There was another whack to his helmet, this time from Rex.

“You’ll need to think of a better excuse than that.”

Boba glared at the two from behind his helmet. “Maybe I’d be able to think all these things through if you all didn’t constantly give me brain damage.”

A voice came from behind Boba. “Are we actually going to try to try to fix this problem or are you three just going to devolve into a fight I could see for free on Kamino without stealing a ship and traveling parsecs?”

Boba looked over to see Hevy shooting a disapproving glare so strong that Boba forgot they were all clones of his _buir_ and thought a younger version of Jango had snuck onboard. Boba scoffed anyway and turned towards his older _vod'ika_ , keeping with his infamous rebellious streak. “Do _you_ have any grand ideas?”

Hevy frowned. “Maybe not, but there's nine of us here, that should be enough to generate _something_.”

The cockpit fell into an awkward silence as no one thought up any of the ideas Hevy was talking about. Boba chewed at his lip mindlessly for a few moments before he remembered something. He was a bounty hunter. He didn’t need a plan. Of course, he was the only bounty hunter out of all of them, despite the Fett DNA. They didn't need to know about the devilish grin beneath his helmet. 

“We’ll figure it out, it’s fine,” Boba said, suspiciously casual. “We’ve got time.”

\---

Boba landed in a spot a comfortable distance down in the layers of the city. His laughably small allowance for the trip was somewhat drained by parking fees, but he'd never been above pickpocketing. He was sure a few of the _vode_ that came with would be able to pick it up too, never too late to learn. 

Boba was going to “take a look around.” Vague enough that it was plausible to write off what he was about to do. He had been so caught up in the logistics and legality of it all that he forgot that there was nothing stopping him from just… Going into the temple and demanding the Jedi give him the information he wanted. There was nothing stopping him at all.

Getting to the temple was a walk in the park for Boba, especially since he had a jetpack (with plenty of fuel, mind you.) When he stepped foot into the place though, he remembered why all of his _vode_ expected him to have a plan, and that he was incredibly stupid when acting by impulse. Jedi and Mandalorians had been, for the majority of their shared history, enemies. Here Boba was strolling into a _Jedi temple_ in _full beskar'gam_ with a variety of uncovered weapons on his person.

Though there were few jedi in sight, the response to Boba's presence was almost immediate. Lightsabers flickered on, comms called for backup, and it was all Boba could do to ditch his helmet, hold his hands up, and hope his youthful features would grant him mercy. 

“Wait! Wait! I just want to talk!”

The two jedi who had initially noticed Boba faltered a bit at his unexpected surrender. They shared a long look before swinging their lightsabers towards his neck in tandem, only stopping about a hair away from killing him. Though there was no plating on his neck, Boba still wished his _beskar'gam_ was made of actual beskar at that moment. 

“Is Sifo-Dyas on Coruscant at the moment?” Boba started conversationally. “I'm here to ask him a few uh, questions. Honestly I could ask all of you some things but things have gotten a bit… Y'know. Hostile.”

A voice suddenly rang out from down the hallway. “Sifo-Dyas has been dead for around 20 years, my friend. You don't seem any older than that.” The gaggle of Jedi that ran up from the depths of the temple was impressive, the bright colored light emanating from their swinging _jetii’kade_ made them look like a light show. Surprisingly, the one who had called out wasn't the one leading the pack but one comfortably in the middle. His blade was a standard blue and his face, though wethered, clearly hadn't seen as much as the one in front, whose hardened expression could be clearly read even behind the royal purple of his own saber. Boba wondered if the speaker had any connection to Sifo-Dyas or if he was just the smartass of the group. 

The number of lightsabers threatening to behead Boba grew as all the jedi discussed what to do with him as if he wasn't just standing there, waiting to lose a head. If only Mandalorians had historically been the Jedi's close allies whom they trusted unconditionally.

“Do any of you even want to know _why_ I wanted to talk to Sifo-Dyas?” Boba interrupted. 

The Jedi quieted and Boba didn't have enough dignity not to look smug. 

“I'm sure the Jedi are aware of the clone army he had commissioned apparently right before his death, so we just--”

“The _what?”_

Boba frowned. “Y'know, Sifo-Dyas had some vision thing about some war that was going to happen in a decade so he flew off to order millions of identical human soldiers to be led by the Jedi from the Kaminoans, known master geneticists and cloners? It's been 18 years, no war has broken out and no Jedi have ever come to check on us.”

A majority of the Jedi looked like Boba had just invented a language when he said all that like it was common knowledge. He had not expected the Jedi to just… Not know. All of the strong words Boba had lined up in his head to eventually fling at them all died. There were only two Jedi who seemed to recognize any of what Boba said, and they still looked confused.

The jedi who had called out before stroked his greying beard. “He actually did it… What did he expect to happen? Were we just supposed to suddenly change our minds about everything just because his army was real? We're still peacekeepers.”

The one Boba assumed was the leader held up a hand. “Don't get too far ahead, Kenobi. Although this mando’s done an impressive amount of homework on Sifo-Dyas, they could still be making things up. It's all a bit absurd.”

Boba grinned. “If you don't believe me, I can just invite my _vode_ over and you'll see for yourself pretty quickly that I'm telling the truth, at least about the clone thing. I wouldn't see why you wouldn't believe the whole story after that.”

Kenobi whispered something to the leader, who frowned. “You're one of these clones? How many siblings do you have?”

Boba laughed. “Millions, weren't you listening? There's only eight more of us here on Coruscant though. I can call them over and you can see for yourselves.”

The leader sighed. “Fine. Have them land the craft where you came in. Tell them to come out _unarmed_ and let them know just how many Jedi are waiting for them.”

Boba flashed a thumbs up before turning to open his comm. 

“Hey, Cody?”

A staticky sigh made its way out of the comm just loud enough for all the Jedi to hear. “Let me guess, you got yourself captured by Jedi.”

“Nononono I've got us an in to the temple! I have everything… Under control. Have Echo fly over and we can start figuring things out.”

“And you're sure we won't be immediately shot out of the sky?”

Boba scoffed and looked towards the Jedi. “You guys wouldn't do that, right? Keeping the peace and all that.”

The jedi kept to their awkward silence. 

“You're with some _jetii_ now?” Cody asked, almost sounding impressed. 

“Yes! Now get everyone over here!”

\---

The identical faces of the _vode_ seemed to unnerve the Jedi, and yet they continued standing there in a carefully practiced row, expressions deceptively blank. Boba's stomach churned in anticipation. He could see the discomfort under those masks of obedience. 

The Jedi’s watchful silence was broken as the leader spoke. “It's clear that this is something we must address. A council meeting will be held as we determine what will happen next. In the meantime, a few of these knights will watch over you and your ship to ensure there's no… Funny business. As uncomfortable as it may be, we cannot allow you all into the temple without the council's approval.”

He turned heel after that, two of the other Jedi following. Before they got all too far, however, a voice sounded from behind Boba. 

“Wait! Do we not get some sort of… Representative in this meeting? I'm sure you'll need more information than what Boba told you if you're just going to decide our fates like that.”

A quick glance over the shoulder revealed Fives as the speaker, and Boba sent out a silent thanks for the all so needed comment.

The leader stopped and turned back around, frowning in thought. “I'll admit that is a fair point, I didn't even consider it.” He looked pointedly at Boba. “One of you may come along to provide context to the situation.”

Boba took only a single step forward before he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking back, he saw Cody shake their head a fraction of a centimeter. They had a point. 

“Let us decide who’ll actually go first,” Boba said, as if that silent conversation hadn't occurred.

The leader nodded. “Of course.”

The _vode_ formed a loose huddle, lowering their voices to whispers. 

“I definitely shouldn't be the one to go,” Boba started. “I started this whole thing with nine _jetii’kade_ at my neck and that's not how I want to end things.”

Domino shared a long and silent look that signaled a nonverbal conversation only a batch could have. 

“I don't think any of us,”Hevy started, gesturing to the rest of xyr batchmates, “should be in charge of this, we're practically shinies compared to the rest of you.” 

Boba nodded. That left Cody, Rex, and 99. It was fairly obvious who would go. 

“Cody, if you want,” 99 started, “on the way here I uh, compiled some documents and information from Kamino on a datapad that might be useful in ah, convincing the Jedi to help us.”

Boba silently yelled at the Kaminoans as he so often did. 99 was here continuing to be the smartest and most practical of the _vode,_ but their self worth had been trampled so badly that she didn't even think it was worth mentioning this datapad until now. 

“You should be the one who goes, 99.”

99 looked up at Boba in surprise. “I… Me?”

“There's a reason you're one of the only _vode_ everyone knows. You've got a way with people. ‘N you actually take the time to get to know them back,” Boba said, waving away the dig at himself as he spoke. “Plus, you know where everything is on that datapad.”

99 smiled. “I'll go get it then. Won't let any of you down”

If the Jedi were surprised about who the _vode_ chose as their representative, they were good at hiding it. Boba had no doubt in 99’s ability to influence the council, none at all, but the Jedi seemed just as immovable as their massive temple, and Boba began to doubt that anyone could influence that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading! i have drawn... way too much stuff for this au than i'd like to admit. i'm an artist first and foremost, and drawing comes a lot more naturally to me than writing so whenever i want to work on this but words aren't coming? i draw something dumb. i was thinking that maybe i could make a tumblr sideblog to share all the behind the scenes stuff i've been doing? i dunno how much demand there is for a sideblog focused on a fic with only two chapters but hey! thats why the comments exist. tell me what you think.  
> either way, i've also been writing a few one shots on the side within this au so i'm going to make a series for when i eventually publish them (gotta... actually edit them first). subscribe to that if you're interested, it'll mostly be stuff taking place before this fic happened.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The eyes of the _Jetiise_ already said a lot about them, and 99 wondered if they were aware of just how much they revealed. Boba had put their faith in 99, but as she traveled through the temple she wondered if he had even considered what sort of faith he was placing on the council.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it feels like i got this chapter done quicker than the last one but honestly i have no idea! its out now though so hey, enjoy.
> 
> 99 is open to any pronouns in this fic and i switch between he, she and they for him very frequently throughout this chapter. i've tried to reduce as much confusion as i could while writing but i figure a heads up will help!

Eyes never seemed to decide how they felt about 99. Often they lingered, on his appearance, no doubt. They just as often skipped right past her, as if he was apart of the sterile landscape that surrounded her. 99 figured that they could learn a whole lot about a person by how their eyes acted around him, and it took longer than anyone would ever like to admit for most _vode_ ’s eyes to just relax and not bother with it all.

The eyes of the _Jetiise_ already said a lot about them, and 99 wondered if they were aware of just how much they revealed. Boba had put their faith in 99, but as she traveled through the temple she wondered if he had even considered what sort of faith he was placing on the council. 

The temple was massive, just as big as the facilities on Kamino, but much more open. Kamino was made for pure function, and any high ceilings were always filled up with walkways or tubes or anything else that could be placed in the empty space. Here the space was free, only broken by the massive pillars that sprouted from the floor. It was also a lot easier on the eyes, if you were to ask 99. It was a wonder the well lit white walls of the facilities hadn’t blinded all the _vode_ already.

The council room sat snug near the top of the temple, and 99 was glad there were no stairs involved in getting there. The circle of plush chairs sat surrounded by large floor to ceiling windows that boasted a picturesque view of Coruscant, the rivers of traffic weaving through impossibly high skyscrapers under the clear blue sky. No one seemed quite ready for the meeting, most likely because of Boba’s spontaneity. 99 smiled affectionately at the thought. 

Once everyone was seated, 99 was able to see who this council was made up of. They hadn’t seen this diverse of a group of faces in years, not since the longnecks decided the contracted trainers had become obsolete and their quarters were taken up by the _vode_ that had replaced them. It was strange to think that many _vode_ hadn't seen a face very different than their own (or Kaminoan), the rest of 99’s batch wasn't even there anymore to break up the monotony.

The meeting started with a question. “Master Windu, what could be so urgent to require such a sudden meeting?

“We're here to discuss what to do with the… Clone army Sifo-Dyas had commissioned after he left the order, right before his death.” Windu, the man who had spoken with the _vode_ earlier, started. “With us today we have a representative of these clones… I'm sorry, I don't think I ever caught your name.”

“99,” she supplied, and whispers broke out among the Jedi. He realized he may have to explain themself a bit more. “All of us are decanted with a number assigned to us but uh, we all tend to name ourselves later in life. 99 isn't the name I was given, it's the one I chose to be my name. Most _vode_ don't name themself another number but I guess I'm special.”

The whispers didn't slow, but the council seemed to at least comprehend 99’s words. It was good enough. Windu ran over what Boba had told him. It was a laughably small amount of information, 99 didn't know how a meeting was supposed to go on without her there. They quickly picked up where Windu left off, going into depth about the clones’ history and present, showing holos and legal documents, answering what questions he could. 

A question sounded out from the Cerean jedi that wasn't so easy to answer. “Where did the funding for this project come from after Sifo-Dyas died?” 

99 winced slightly. “Everyone thought you all were sending in money from the Republic… That, ah, doesn't seem to be the case now. From what I've heard about Sifo-Dyas today, it seems like it was important to him to keep you all ignorant while also making sure the Kaminoans thought he was a representative of the Jedi. It seemed to have… Worked. He probably had some outside source set up even before he, uh, died.”

Whispers started up again, but when the word “sith” was uttered, a full on argument broke out. 99 was conveniently forgotten, and as the argument raged they were able to pick up that the Jedi had a fallen master, lost decades ago, on their hands. Interesting.

“Whether or not Dooku is involved in this,” the Kel Dor jedi spoke above the arguing council, earning him a few glares, “we must be able to take responsibility for this whether we were the ones behind it or not. It is our duty as peacekeepers and protectors of the galaxy to help these people.”

99 smiled to himself even as the council fell into yet another argument. It was nice to know that at least some of the jedi were willing to listen. Even though most of the Kel Dor jedi’s face was hidden, 99 could tell their words were genuine. The argument was mostly about the potential of the clones being a trap sent by the Sith, but underlying that was casual dismissal of the clones’ worth in the first place. Unsurprising, but disappointing. 

The argument was eventually hushed by Windu. 

“I think we can all agree that a solution to this issue will take more than one meeting to find at this point.” Windu turned to 99. “From what I understand, you and your siblings don't have any access to funding, correct?”

99 nodded. He wasn't going to bring up what little Boba had, it'd take too long to explain… Everything about Boba. 

“Then pay for lodging and food, we will,” the little green being next to Windu quickly concluded. “An easy solution, I would think this issue has.”

Windu frowned. “It's not as easy as you may think, Master Yoda. I don't think nine people with varying levels of identical faces would be hosted without suspicion at many establishments. Besides, it might be good to get to know these clones a bit better before we decide their fate.”

Yoda narrowed his eyes. “What are you suggesting, then?”

“We have some spare rooms in the temple, I don't see why we couldn't use them.”

* * *

The _vode_ back at the ship were buzzing with anticipation as soon as 99 was in view. They crowded up as close as they could without risking any limbs lost to lightsabers. Cody was in the back, probably trying to pretend he wasn't just as anxious as everyone else, Rex and Boba seemed to be trying to see who could stand up on their toes the highest without looking ridiculous, and Cutup sitting on Hevy’s shoulders so he could see over the jedi. 

Before anyone could ask 99 what had happened, Windu started to speak. 

“We have not decided what to do with this situation you have presented us all with. A conclusion to our debate will most likely come in one or two weeks.” 

Various noises of protest sounded out from the _vode_.

“ _In the meantime,_ however, you will be staying in our temple as guests.”

Both the Jedi guarding the _vode_ and the _vode_ themselves were stunned. 99 smiled. None of them were expecting that to come out of the whole thing. 

“Take any possessions you may need but leave any weapons. We will search you all when you enter into the temple, and if you have anything on you, we _will_ find it.”

99 was finally left to reunite with their siblings. She was squeezed into about 15 distinct hugs, got a healthy dose of slaps on the back, and questions came at him from all angles. They tried to answer just about two before deciding a full retelling was more efficient.

“I mean I guess Windu had a point, but just _letting us in?_ We're very clearly _Mando_ , even with the plastoid. Either they're _di’kute_ or severely underestimate us.” Boba started after 99 finished his story. 

“Or they could just be nice. Y’know.” Bait countered, voice flat. 

“I don't really think they're uh, nice.” 99 said with a wince. “Half of them either don't care about what happens to us or think we're some sort of _dar’jetii_ trap.”

“Well Windu could be the nice one, he's giving us the benefit of the doubt, right?”

Fives frowned. “I dunno, I don't like how he talks to us, reminds me of the old trainers.”

“He's just being professional, idiot.” Echo shot back with a shove. “You knew Dogma early on, even though e was Like That e wasn't ever _mean.”_

“I can't believe you're siding with Bait instead of your own dear twin,” Fives sighed with an exaggerated pout. 

“They've already stated that they want to… _Observe_ us, I guess.” Rex cut in. “You don't have to project so hard when they've already said some shit.”

99 shivered at Rex’s wording. He knew what it was like to have the longnecks' eyes on him with his platinum blonde hair, albeit to a lesser extent. He was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of scrutiny being placed on him again. 

“Whatever their motives may be, I think this is the best case scenario,” 99 started. “We're getting much more time to argue our case, we can try to appeal to them much more naturally. They can see us as _people_ for a bit.”

“Hopefully,” muttered Rex as the impromptu meeting dissolved. The _vode_ all left the ship and approached the Jedi almost uniformly- Boba was floating on a bit ahead, out of sync, but he didn't seem to care. Or notice. 

The weapons search would have gone along without a hitch, except Boba had left his vambraces on and tried to argue that flamethrowers and barbed grappling hooks were _not_ weapons and instead deeply important cultural items. The jedi who was checking him was quick to remind Boba that most items important to Mandalorian culture were important _because_ they could be used as weapons. 

Windu was the one who led the tour of the temple, probably because the whole thing was his idea. 99 couldn't help but think about how the space could be utilized by their siblings back on Kamino, there was just so much _space,_ and it was all taken up by a relatively small number of Jedi. They sure weren't sleeping two or three to a bunk. 

99 didn't know if the helmets worn by her siblings helped or hindered the amount of stares they all got. On one hand, they jedi weren't able to see their identical faces, but on the other hand, they weren't able to see their faces. 99 themself didn't have armor: _vode_ were eager to make him a custom set, and when 99 found it all too restricting, Boba was quick to tell her it didn't make them any less Mando, any less of a soldier. A new wardrobe of custom clothing that had much less plastoid came soon after, and the cadet-blue jumpsuit 99 used to wear was quickly discarded. The Kaminoans weren't a huge fan, but they didn't care enough to stop it. It was a nice alternative to a paint job. 

Maybe it was the paint jobs that drew the eyes of the scattered Jedi. Bait’s neon orange and yellow plating sure was designed to catch eyes, and Fives’ candy-pink stripes had always looked a bit goofy. Rex and Cody of course had full on landscapes across their chests, and so 99 let himself daydream what the jedi thought of the loud display of individuality and talent. 

“...And here are your rooms.” Windu said as the group was stopped in the middle of a hallway much more snug than the rest of the temple. “Unfortunately we could only spare five, so most of you will have to double up.”

Five rooms for the nine of them? And he was apologizing for it? 99 thought that was pretty funny, and as filtered chuckles made their way through helmets, 99 figured their siblings thought so too. 

Windu frowned, looking a bit lost. 99 suddenly realized he was being serious.

“That's plenty of space, _jetii_.” Boba laughed, catching Windu’s confusion before the others. “Maybe too much, we’ll see.”

The rooms were very modest, but they didn't lack comfort. It was almost the opposite of Kamino; the walls were bare and lifeless, but the appliances and beds were all very solid and comfortable. 99 would be surprised if Cutup didn't spice up the walls within a couple of hours if he could find the supplies for it. 

Boba ended up being right, one of the rooms had a king sized bed and Domino immediately claimed it in its entirety. It was a rare opportunity for the entire batch to all sleep together somewhere that wasn't the floor. Rex and Cody were together, of course, and Cody invited 99 to come join them but… 

Boba was lying down on the bed he had claimed, not a single piece of his armor removed. The last rooms all had two small twin sized beds, and so Boba was in a fairly familiar position with an empty bed beside him. 99 tentatively walked into the room, eyeing Boba. Boba was… A lot of things. Hard to understand, for one. His relationship with the rest of the _vode_ had been messy for a good first half of his life, and understandably so. He didn't like to talk about it, so no one did, except maybe Cody, in more private conversations. Sometimes 99 got the feeling that Boba looked up to her, which was something they'd never quite grasped. It wasn't really something to ask about though, so 99 didn't. He wanted to, but Boba was entitled to his privacy. 

“Go ahead,” Boba said before 99 could even ask. He sounded older with the modulator, like if his growth was also accelerated. “It'll be nice to have someone else in here.”

“Isn't that uncomfortable?” 99 asked, vaguely gesturing to Bobas whole thing. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Boba replied. He got up and swept the room for bugs, probably. Or maybe little _jetiise_ hiding in the corners. When he seemed satisfied, he finally took off his helmet to reveal a pair of very tired eyes. “I’m really not sure what this is anymore, I just hope it all works out.”

99 offered him a smile as they hopped up on her own bed. “I’m sure it will, Boba.”

“Yeah,” Boba agreed, not really sounding too sure of himself, “it will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how do i decide to use jetti vs jedi? i have no idea tbh. it just happens.
> 
> i started [that blog](https://no-care-no-cause.tumblr.com/) i alluded to in the notes of last chapter! i got one (1) comment saying i should make it and thats all i need to enable me. it's pretty empty at the time of writing this but expect art + updates + general thoughts in the future!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaand its been a month. whoops! in my defense this chapter is a lot longer than i expected it to be (about twice as long as my chapters usually are) and i maybe accidentally started [another multichapter fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24620293/chapters/59479222) recently. as much as i love boba in this fic, i had a very strong need to explore a more canon boba so... now i have multichapter fic thats taking over my life #2! 
> 
> there are some more frank discussions of eugenics etc. in this chapter, it doesn't get all too bad but here's a warning. if you want to skip it, just skip the part thats in 99's pov.

It was only a few hours after getting settled in the temple until the chaos started. 

“Y'know, I should've expected this. Sticking your neck out like always, Bait.”

“Wh! What do you mean by that? Nothing's even happened.”

“Yet. We're running towards the place the _jetiise_ keep their cadets and we’ve only _barely_ started to gain their trust!”

“I'm good with kids! No one said we couldn't go there!”

Cutup laughed. “And that's why I’m coming along.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. ‘Haha, funny Bait fucks something up,’ whatever.” Bait sighed dramatically, but she knew Cutup was just trying to rile her up. “This’ll work out well for us though! When the council eventally decides we’re more trouble than we’re worth, all the Jedi kids will come in with their cute lil’ cadet-eyes and be like ‘ohhh noo you have to help them out! Mhi cyarir cuun ori'vode Cutup bal Bait ori'sol! Val cuyi jatyc bal kotep bal mandokar'la! Oy, Mhi cyarir val ori'sol!”

“What, are they going to be fluent in Mando’a by the time we’re done with them?” 

“Sure!” Bait responded with a laugh. “Why wouldn’t they be?”

“Because languages are hard to learn?”

“They’ve got the force, they’ll work it out.” Bait waved off the concern with a chuckle. 

“That doesn’t sound right, but I don't know enough about the force to dispute it.”

When two eventually made it to the créches, they quickly realized that they had no preparation for the pure chaos that could be wrought by a dozen Jedi kids. Toys were floating and zipping around, voices loudly competed to be heard, and one kid was straight up growling at another. 

When the kids saw the clones, however, everything froze. Bait took off his helmet and urged Cutup to do the same with a forceful nudge. They only realized that there was an adult in the room when she stood up and greeted them. 

“You two are a few of our mysterious guests, right?” The Nautolan woman started, a curious twinkle in her pure black eyes. “Welcome to the créches, I'm Créchemaster Soray Nurroz. I guess we must've put on a bit of a show if you two are back so soon after your tour.”

Bait laughed a bit self consciously. “Well I mean, I’ve always been good with cadets and uh…” she ran a hand through the longer side of her hair, “there wasn’t much else to do, to be honest.”

Soray made a bit of a face at the word _cadets_ but otherwise didn't say anything about it. “The younglings will probably be enough to keep you two entertained for a while,” she said with a bit of a chuckle. “They're… A handful.”

Bait waved off the warning. “I'm sure we'll be fine. Right, Cutup?”

Cutup smiled. “Sure Bait, as long as I use you as a sentient shield from all the chaos.”

“Solid plan,” Soray started, “when there's two créchemasters around that's always how it goes. Truly a well tested strategy.”

Bait rolled his eyes and eyed the apparent menaces. They didn't seem to be listening to the adults talk, but it was clear they were waiting for something, muttering amongst themselves.

“Alright younglings!” Soray started with a clap to get the attention of the already waiting kids in front of her. “Today we have some visitors! This is Cutup and Bait, and they're a couple of the guests that arrived at the temple today! The council hasn't told everyone why they're here yet, so they may not be able to answer all of your questions. As with everyone, don't press too hard with your questioning, I know a _few_ of you are quite nosey but these two deserve some privacy.”

Bait could hear a bit of whispering coming from the kids, a few of them clearly not quite grasping the concept that whispers were meant to be quiet. Soray continued smiling sweetly as she turned towards Bait and Cutup.

“Good luck!” She said cheerfully.

And then she _left._

The questions started immediately. 

“Are you all a bunch of twins or something?”

“Why are your names so funny?”

“Why do you wear that armor everywhere?”

“Whassit say on your neck?”

“Why's only half of your armor painted?”

The last two were directed at Cutup, and Bait smirked as the kids picked apart his fashion choices. 

“Slow down a bit!” Cutup pleaded, hands up in surrender. “If you don't take turns you won't get any answers!”

The kids seemed to consider that for a moment. As they muttered amongst themselves, a twi’lek, looking to be the oldest of the kids gathered, came forwards to ask their question.

“You all look the same, but not really. Those two with the really painterly armor are old, the one without armor looks _super_ old... but I can't tell if that's just how they look, and the one with the durasteel armor is like, padawan age. What's up with that?”

“We're clones, we all have pretty much the same DNA. Cody and Rex look older because they _are_ older. 99 looks older than she is sometimes but she's just about Rex’s age.” Bait paused to gauge the kids’ reactions before continuing, “Boba though, he's the one with the durasteel, he's the oldest out of _all_ of us.”

The room exploded with excited questions again and Bait took some time to be pleased with herself. She knew she was good with kids. 

The same twi’lek from earlier broke through the noise again. “How old is he? How old are _you?”_

“Boba's 18, I'm 14.”

The twi’lek frowned, one of their lekku twitching a bit. “No way. _I'm_ 14\. Humans don't age faster than twi’leks.”

Bait shrugged. “Fett clones do! ‘Cept for Boba.”

The twi’lek seemed to think about that for a bit. 

“Well, from one 14-year-old to another,” the kid looked directly into Bait’s eyes and held out a hand, “I hope we can be friends and allies.”

Bait frowned, hand hovering above the kid’s. “Allies against what?”

“Old people.”

Cutup completely lost it at that, slamming their hand against Bait’s back with a cackle. Bait just rolled her eyes and shook the hand. 

“And do you have a name yet, my most trusted ally?”

“‘Course I do,” the kid responded, looking a bit baffled by Bait’s question. “I'm Kayya Sutag.”

Bait nodded. “Well, Kayya, I'm afraid our first enemy is right in our midst, Cutup here is about 20 minutes older than me.”

Kayya sighed solemnly. “I know what must be done.”

Cutup never saw the throw pillow that crashed into his face coming, probably because Kayya levitated it into them using the force.

* * *

The temple was beautiful, almost too beautiful. Cody's mind occasionally slipped into the thought that maybe he and his _vode_ were all too rambunctious and awkward to even set foot in the place, but before it continued he dismissed it. They'd been accepted as guests, there was no room for them to question that choice now. 

Cody decided Coruscant itself was beautiful as well. It was a different kind of beautiful to the temple, more of a shifting stream of mercury compared to the ancient, unmoving beskar of the building he’d been living in for the last couple of days. As he sat watching in the gardens, the shifting of leaves in the wind and the sky slowly changing color, Cody felt their age weigh down on them in a way it never had before. His hair was turning grey and this was the first time he'd seen a sunset. 

But if the universe was going to let Cody have any peace, it wasn't happening then. As the details of the world became less focused the longer he sat, there was suddenly the sharp noise of gravel sliding underfoot and a falling body suddenly appeared in Cody's vision. 

No stranger to people tripping in front of him, Cody quickly sprung to their feet and caught the unfortunate victim of gravity. The two stood there for a while, the one who’d tripped giving a small chuckle. Cody quickly helped the man to his feet, finally getting a view of his mildly familiar face. He had been one of the _jetii_ in the group that originally greeted the ship Boba stole. He was human, Cody was fairly certain, though he looked quite different to the _vode_. His skin was pale, hair a rusty color with an invasion of grey hairs mirroring Cody's. A beard framed his playful smile, and as he finished looking himself over, his blue eyes snapped up and locked with Cody's, his smile widening into a grin. 

“Are you sure all of your siblings share your same face? Because you are radiant in a way I've never seen before.”

Cody felt all the blood rush into his face as his eyes grew wider than he thought was possible. They were _not_ expecting that. 

“I'm ah, pretty sure it's the same face, that's why we're clones… I mean there's my scar, but I'm not sure there's anything radiant about that.”

The jedi chuckled again. “You might want to reexamine your biases.” His face fell into a thoughtful frown. “That being said, have you… Never been flirted with before? I'll admit I wasn't reaching for a reaction quite like that.”

Cody chuckled awkwardly. “Everyone I've ever met before coming here was either related to me or barely considered me a person. I would say any previous flirting experience wouldn't be a good thing, sir.”

It seemed to be the Jedi’s turn with a flushed face. “Right, of course. I apologize for my... bluntness.”

Cody smiled. “It’s alright, sometimes it's nice when people are honest about their feelings.”

Cody figured that at that point jedi looked about as flushed as Cody had after the initial flirting. Good. 

“I… Well. I guess I can't say I was lying at all, but, um…” The jedi was very unsuccessful in his backtracking. Cody wondered idly if Jango would be proud of him for breaking a _jetii_. 

“Didn't mean to come on so strongly? That's okay, we can start over.” Cody held out a hand. “I'm Cody, of the command class.”

The jedi grasped Cody’s hand in two of his own. “Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

Cody smiled pleasantly and turned his gaze back out to the city, the sun had already dipped below the horizon by the time the conversation had come to that point. “That was my first sunset. Can you believe it?”

Obi-Wan blinked. “How old are you?”

“17. Almost 18.”

There was a bit of an awkward pause before Cody realized he had to amend his answer. 

“That's ah, the equivalent of about 36 in natborn human years.”

“Oh.” Obi-Wan frowned. “What?”

“Our genome was edited in order to make us grow twice as fast as a regular human. Just imagine we all belong to a near-human species with half the usual lifespan if that makes things easier for you.”

Obi-Wan looked somewhat pained. “That makes things harder, I think... That's really depressing to think about. You’ve got the lifespan of a pet tooka...”

Cody waved away Obi-Wan’s concerns, ignoring the worry that had been growing in him for years, the one that reminded him that even in the best timeline he'd die halfway through Boba's own life. 

“It’s not _that_ short, and besides, I've got a bit of time before I have to worry about it.”

Obi-Wan gave Cody a doubtful look, but didn't press it. “I see.”

They settled into a bit of a silence. It was getting dark, but the lights of the city made sure that the garden didn’t get swallowed up by it. 

“Your armor has a sunset on it,” Obi-Wan suddenly blurted out.

“Very observational of you,” Cody replied with a smile. “It’s always been something I’ve wanted to see.”

Obi-Wan nodded. “It’s very beautiful.The paint job, that is. You and your siblings seem to all have a very keen eye, if your armor is anything to go off of.”

“There’s only so much training we can do for eight years, and only so many alternative activities available to us.”

“I suppose so. Where did you get the paints?”

Cody shrugged. “Our armor was going to be painted either way, there was just as much paint waiting for us to use as there was armor. The hardest part was convincing the Kaminoans to let us use more than one color, the colors were originally meant to signify which battalion a _vod_ was in.”

“I see…” Obi-Wan responded, sounding distracted. “Well I… Better get back to my room. Can't spend all my time out here, unfortunately. We should, um. Meet up again. Sometime. It was… Nice to meet you properly.”

“It was nice to meet you too, Obi-Wan. Hope you have a nice evening.” Cody said with a smile. They hoped silently that the budding friendship wasn't just for show, and that Obi-Wan wouldn't just turn around and argue against helping their _vode._ Cody had slowly come to realize that Jedi tended to be equally polite to everyone, even people they had denied the sentience of just hours before.

* * *

99 had seen the _jetii Kaminiise_ a few times now. At that point he was certain the longneck had seen plenty of him. The way their eyes lingered wasn't exactly like the lingering eyes of the longnecks back on Kamino as they studied 99. She supposed that made sense, as the jedi had been raised in a completely different culture. The jedi’s stares had an uncomfortable amount of questioning to them, but they also had a certain degree of understanding. Perhaps force sensitivity was just as undesired in Kaminoan reproduction as it was in the production of Fett clones, or maybe it was just a result of some sort of empathic _jetii_ power.

“I had no idea no one knew about you and your siblings,” the Kaminoan started to say one day, very suddenly, coming behind 99 as they absently scrolled through a datapad. 99 jumped a bit more than they’d like to admit, and the jedi waited until he recovered before continuing. “I was only three when I left Kamino though, at that age I think I just assumed the adults around me knew everything I did. There was no reason for me to say anything.”

99 looked back at the Kaminoan. They held themself in a way that was so different from anything 99 had ever seen from the scientists back in the facilities. It was the humility, 99 thought, that made all the difference. 

“I was saved, I think, when master Obi-Wan found me. I quickly learned to be careful to not show my force sensitivity at all as a child, but there's only so much you can hide. I think if the council was aware of how Kaminoans aged, I wouldn't've been all too safe here either, but sometimes ignorance is a mercy.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

The jedi’s eyes twinkled in amusement. “Oh, I tell everyone everything nowadays. Now that I'm somewhat grown up I’m aware that no one actually knows anything.”

99 laughed a bit at that, but it was short and soon a frown appeared on her face. “You have been staring at me quite a bit since I've gotten here though, so don't be surprised when I say I suspect you have other motives.”

The jedi winced. “I apologize for that. Frankly, I was just surprised that you're… alive. And that your siblings are so accepting of your differences. It's very different from the Kamino I knew.”

“I'm very lucky to be alive, most who came out like me aren't. It's a whole story- maybe you'll get it out of me sometime- but unfortunately my case isn't the norm. My siblings though, every one of them knows someone who didn't reach the minimums set for us. They all know someone who has been scarred or killed because of it. I don't think they're able to not understand me at least a little bit.”

The jedi nodded slowly. “I'm glad you were all able to avoid the trap Kaminoan society has fallen into. You all deserve to leave that behind... I'll be sure to press my master into arguing for your cause at the next council meeting.”

“Your master?”

“Master Kit Fisto, he's the Nautolan on the council. I'm padawan Lo Saun, by the way. And your name is?”

“99.”

“Is that your chosen name?”

99 smiled, glad that Lo had the decency to ask. “It is, don't worry. The number they gave me was much worse.”

Lo laughed at that. 99 didn't think they'd ever seen a Kaminoan laugh in any way that wasn't downright cruel. They were... a pleasant surprise.

“I’m just relieved that you aren’t… ah...” 99 started, not quite sure how to say it.

“A eugenicist? Me too. It... took a bit of work.”

“Yeah?”

“Kaminoan ideals were still very much a part of me as I entered the temple even after I was almost killed by them. The first, violent step towards my disillusionment was the physical limitations I found I had while first training with a lightsaber, even as a perfect Kaminoan specimen, the perfection they valued is... very superficial, I found. The next step was realizing that I, and others could accomplish things and be useful even with disability and other physical limitations. The final one was realizing that _usefulness_ and _accomplishments_ don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of a being’s worth.” Lo paused in their rant and smiled a bit. “I assume you already know all this though.”

99 gave a small smile and a shrug. “Things would be much worse if I didn't.”

* * *

Rex wasn't expecting to see anyone besides the _vode_ in the temple’s guest hallway, but he almost ran headfirst into someone _definitely_ not related to him. He should've known not to run around while reading, but on Kamino everyone had been so used to him tearing down hallways, datapad in hand, that he hadn't needed to be careful in years. 

The poor man Rex almost ran over didn't seem too bothered by it, he was mostly just amused and maybe a bit surprised. And he wasn't a Jedi, that was for sure. Unless Jedi had started to up their budget on clothing recently. 

“You aren't a jedi!” Rex blurted before he could really think about it. 

“Hah! No.” The man gave an easy smile. “Thankfully not... I don't think you're much of a jedi yourself though, what's a Mando like you doing in a temple like this?”

“It's… A long story, sir.”

“Fair enough.” The man said with a shrug. “I'm Anakin, I'm just here visiting some friends. Nothing too special. Oh yeah! And these are my kids, Luke and Leia.”

Rex would've said something snarky about how Anakin almost forgot about his own kids, but he hadn't even noticed them, clinging to their father’s legs. They looked about two, er, four. Five? Did Boba look like that when Cody was five? Rex thought that sounded right. 

Rex gave the two a wave. “Hello, _verd’ike._ ”

“Whassat mean?” Demanded the blonde one, pointing at Rex. Anakin had never specified which kid was which, so Rex had defaulted to hair color. Like Domino had after Boba’s little name switch up prank with Rex and Cody, the jerk. 

“Little soldiers,” Rex responded with a smile. 

Blondie seemed extremely excited about that, while the brunette simply rolled their eyes, though it took them a few tries to get the motion right. Rex had a feeling they'd learnt it off someone. 

“That's Mando'a, right?” Anakin asked. 

Rex nodded. “How'd you know?”

Anakin shrugged. “The armor kinda gives you away.”

“...Right.”

Anakin's eyes sparkled in excitement. “A True Mandalorian in the temple though, how'd that ever get past the Council?”

Rex sighed. “That long story I mentioned has a very convincing point to it, I guess.”

“Well I can't wait to pester all the secrets out of everyone. Oh yeah! Uh, what's your name?”

“Rex.”

Anakin waited a beat before realizing that was all Rex was going to say. “Just Rex?”

“Yep.”

“Oh, okay,” Anakin replied, sounding a bit disconcerted, even though he didn't even say his own last name. 

Before Anakin could continue the smalltalk, the little brunette tugged on his pant leg. 

“Daddy, what's a Mandalorian?” 

“It's a uhh… Group of people?”

“Creed,” Rex supplied. 

“Yeah, that. They wear armor like Rex’s and care a lot about fighting and kids. They're kinda like the Jedi's biggest enemy aside from the Sith, and so that's why it's so special that Rex is here.”

The blondie frowned. “I thought you said you were the Jedi's biggest enemy besides the Sith, daddy.”

Anakin laughed. “That was a joke, Luke. They just think I'm annoying.”

Rex let out a surprised laugh at that. “I'm beginning to think your backstory is just as long as mine is.”

“Probably,” Anakin said with a shrug, “I just like to keep myself humble, I guess. Just a stay-at-home dad taking care of his kids.”

“Wearing _that?_ ”

Anakin looked down as if he was surprised to see the clothes he was wearing. “Okay, fair point.”

Rex was about to make a snarky reply when suddenly a body slammed into him. 

“Hey Cody? What the kriff?”

Cody frowned. “Kriff? Just say f--” he looked over past Rex and noticed the twins twining around Anakin's legs. “Oh. Children. Continue to say kriff.”

“Why'd you bodyslam me anyways? I swear you haven't done that in years.”

“They were showing off,” said a new voice pleasantly, causing Rex to turn around completely. “He saw you and said ‘Hey, watch this!’ And ran off.”

Rex turned to see Obi-Wan, Cody's first crush that wasn't the hot mentor figure in the latest novel they'd read. Obi-Wan was still a bit on the ‘hot mentor figure’ side, but being an actual corporeal person was a huge plus. 

Cody himself was hardly containing his embarrassment well. Apparently being in love meant that their masterful sabacc face completely crumbled.

“Oh, hi Obi-Wan,” Anakin started, because of course he knew Obi-Wan. “This your new boyfriend?”

Rex sighed as Obi-Wan started to sputter out a response. Anakin absolutely knew what he was doing, and Rex didn't know if that would be wonderful or… Not. Probably the latter. Still, with making fun of Cody on the line, Rex was willing to team up with the man. 

Once Obi-Wan finished saying what was basically “we are just friends” with a lot more “um”s, Anakin turned his attention onto Rex and Cody. 

“You two twins or something?”

Cody raised an eyebrow at Rex. Rex frankly didn’t know what they had expected. 

“We’re clones. Near identical genetic material, but Rex is about half a year younger than me. Delayed twins, you could say.”

“And there’s a million more of us,” Rex added.

“That too.”

Anakin frowned. “I think I’m starting to see why you’re here.”

“It doesn't help that they were created to be soldiers under the leadership of the Jedi for a war that never happened,” Obi-Wan added. 

“THE JEDI DID WHAT?”

Obi-Wan held up a calm hand. “The Jedi as a whole had no idea this was happening, late Master Sifo-Dyas sent in the order without anyone's knowledge. He had some sort of vision that never wound up coming true.”

Anakin seemed to calm down a bit, but it seemed like he still needed to reign in his next words. “And I assume the Council is acting very quickly to help stop this enslavement??”

“Anakin, I'm not sure if I'd call it sl-”

“It's slavery.”

“We're Kaminoan property.”

Rex and Cody both interrupted Obi-Wan simultaneously and Anakin looked to be about as smug as he could while also being completely livid.

Obi-Wan sighed. “You know the Council, Anakin. We've been arguing about what to do for a week now.”

“Of course they’ve been,” Anakin spat. 

Rex glanced at Cody. As nice as it was to have Anakin be so outspoken, Rex had no idea what was up with him. Clearly, this was something personal to him, and with Anakin seeming fairly rich, Rex's skin crawled trying to imagine why exactly that was. 

A young voice cut through the dark atmosphere the conversation had created. 

“Daddy are you done talking about grown-up stuff yet? It's making you sad, I don't want you to be sad.”

Anakin picked up Luke. “Yeah I'm done, Lukester. Didn't mean to make you upset.”

“I wasn't upset!” Luke protested. 

“Yeah you were,” countered Leia, “I could feel it!”

Rex frowned. The twins seemed to be force sensitive, and from the whispers he'd heard about the sporadic and often unrecognized abilities of force sensitive _vode_ , they seemed trained. Just another point towards Anakin's strange backstory. 

“Remember not to talk about that here, kids.” Anakin chidid softly. “Remember what I taught you.”

Luke frowned. “Don't they already know?”

“They do, but they don't realize how strong you two are. That's why you've got to make sure to dampen it.”

“It won't be the end of the world if they join, Anakin. Ahsoka and I will keep an eye on them,” Obi-Wan said softly. 

“I know, I know,” Anakin sighed. “And you know why I don't want it to happen.”

“I know.”

Rex very suddenly had the feeling that he was intruding on something very private. 

“I-- uh. Cody and I will be in our room if you need us, it was nice to meet you, Anakin.”

Anakin blinked. “Oh, it was nice to meet you too. Sorry you had to see all this.”

Rex forced a bit of a smile, “it's alright.”

When the door finally closed and Cody and Rex were alone, Rex took a deep breath. 

“Who the _fuck_ is Anakin?” He asked in a hiss.

Cody shrugged. “Obi-Wan just said he was an old friend that visits about once a month. I wasn't really expecting him to be all…”

“Crazy?”

“Sure.”

* * *

Echo didn’t really want to admit that they were lost, but they truly couldn't figure out where in the sprawling ziggurat of the Jedi Temple they were. At least Fives was just as lost right beside xem, and they in just as much denial as their _vod_.

Just as Echo was about to admit defeat, a lone jedi approached the pair of clones. He was massive, though that could easily be explained by the fact that he was a Besalisk. His four arms were folded in front of him, and despite his friendly smile, Echo found themself fairly intimidated. It was probably just the height. 

“Uh… Do you need anything?” Fives asked before tacking on a quick “sir.”

“Actually, you two were exactly who I was looking for.” The jedi said, smile widening. “My name is Pong Krell, and if you follow me, I would like to ask you some questions.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're really getting into it now :)
> 
> edit: ALMOST FORGOT MANDO'A TRANSLATIONS... WHOOPS  
> vod: sibling (vode plural)  
> jetii: jedi (jetiise plural)  
> kaminiise: kaminoans   
> verd'ike: little soldiers (verd'ika would be singular)  
> Mhi cyarir cuun ori'vode Cutup bal Bait ori'sol! Val cuyi jatyc bal kotep bal mandokar'la! Oy, Mhi cyarir val ori'sol!: We love our older siblings Cutup and Bait a lot! They are nice and brave and full of Mandalorian virtue! Oh, we love them a lot!
> 
> also. more art! more art!  
>   
> here are all of the canon armor designs! you can also do the thing where you support me as an artist and [reblog the post i made on tumblr ](https://no-care-no-cause.tumblr.com/post/621876349682024448/armor-redesigns-for-no-care-no-cause-theyve)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! i wrote this a lot faster than i write most things because i am absolutely hyped for this... arc? i guess i could call it? but yeah have fun.

Echo was starting to feel bad for this Pong guy. This Krell guy? Last names were weird. He was not the image of peace and security that a jedi was supposed to be. His tall stature, his wide frame, his four arms, the two long, double ended _jetii’kade_ clipped to his belt, his uncomfortably wide smile… Everything was working against him. 

Echo and Fives quickly arrived at what was most likely Krell’s quarters. The space was probably quaint, but bigger even than Domino’s guest room. Echo frankly didn't know what they'd do with space like this. Krell gestured for the twins to sit on a couch in the foyer.

“Would you two like some tea? Caf?” Krell asked slowly, moving towards the kitchen. Echo began to wonder how long this was all going to take, it was already about time to start thinking about sleeping. 

“No thanks, we're f--”

“Some caf, maybe?”

Echo gave Fives a look when they cut xem of. 

“What? I like caf.”

“How long do you want to be here?” Echo hissed. 

Fives shrugged. “I'm not saying no to free caf. If you really lose your mind I can just… Take the cup.”

Echo sighed as Fives started waiting patiently for Krell to make caf. 

When the besalisk finally reemerged with caf, Echo knew Fives was already just as sick of all the pleasantries as they were. Really, Echo had denied the offer of drinks for the sake of Fives. The wait time and a Domino hyped up on caffeine really weren't worth it. 

Fives sipped at their caf anyways, apparently not caring about their sleep schedule. Krell smiled briefly at the sight, though it looked to be a bit strained. Echo wondered if Krell had only offered drinks out of general politeness.

“Now, you and your fellow clones… Fascinate me, let's say,” Krell finally started, “I was wondering if you two could help me learn more about yourselves as people. As a group of people, even.”

Fives looked up from their caf at that, growing a bit excited. “Oh yeah, we can definitely help with that. Do you have anywhere to start or should I just..?”

“I think a good place to start would be your nicknames,” Krell requested patiently, almost patronizingly so. 

“Well first off, they're our _names_ , not just nicknames,” Fives started, no malice in their words. Their foot had started tapping in excitement. “You haven't been acquainted with us long, but in the future I suggest keeping that in mind. We're good punchers.”

“...Interesting,” Krell interjected, voice slow and thoughtful, and Echo really wanted to know what he found so interesting about that. 

Fives blazed on, only barely pausing for Krell's input and definitely not stopping long enough to recognise the almost sinister tone Krell had used. “Yeah! Earning a name is a pretty big thing to us. We either name ourselves or names come from our squadmates. It's actually pretty common to see names derived from insults. Cutup, Bait, and Echo here are examples of that. Sometimes the insults are more just gentle ribbing amongst _vode_ that's fairly easy to adopt, like with Echo,”

“I guess,” Echo muttered. “I just went with it ‘cause it sounds cool.”

Fives rolled their eyes. “You love it, you're a bad liar. Anyways, names can also come from your abilities, your interests, your appearance… Really, anything that sets you apart is on the table because your name is so intrinsic to your individuality! And that's what makes them great! They have meaning, they have purpose! They're a small window to show what makes a _vod_ unique! It's one of my favorite things about Fett clone culture.”

Fives’ gestures became more and more extravagant as their speech swelled into its wonderful climax, and Krell was frowning. Just a bit. 

“So you would say clones have their own culture?”

Fives faltered, their confidence seeming to unravel slightly as they finally registered Krell's reaction to the information. Echo nudged them a bit in reassurance. 

“Well- yeah. We have _m_ _andokar_ in both our blood and our livelihoods but our culture has developed into its own little subsect.”

Krell leaned back. “I see.” He clearly did not. 

Echo was becoming more and more on edge as the conversation continued. How late was it getting? What did Krell even want if he seemed to just dismiss all of Fives’ words? Why did Krell need Echo and Fives specifically? What was Krell waiting for?

“How much do you know about the force?” Krell asked, eyes narrowing. 

“Not much,” Echo replied. Fives was a bit put out after their infodumping had been ignored. “The few force sensitive _vode_ back on Kamino are of course not trained, and half of the time if they survive more than a few years their abilities are so repressed they're barely aware of them”

Krell's frown deepened at the mention of force sensitive clones. “As a quick recap, then, I will tell you that the force flows through everything, and everything that lives has a force signature.”

Echo nodded slowly. 

“The force signature of sentients is a very unique one. It can often tell you things that otherwise you'd never know. You don't find anything else like it in animals or droids, and…”

Krell paused for a second and it was just enough for Echo’s stomach to sink into oblivion in worried anticipation. 

“The force signature that resides in you and your ‘siblings’ is a complete perversion of the living force. As limp copies you serve only to dilute the extravagance of sentience and poison the force around you. I can sense your very life and none of you are as _unique_ as you claim, not even close. You're all the same, lab grown and engineered…” Krell stared deep into Echo’s eyes, into their _soul_. “Many of the jedi around me do not see things the way I do, I've found. They do not see the truth behind the cute little displays of personality you've all constructed, and they won't listen.” 

Echo was slowly pushing Fives out of the room as Krell's words filled with a deadly conviction. Echo knew he would only be telling the two of them this if he had a way to dispose of them. There was no way Krell would say these sorts of things to any of the jedi the _vode_ had started to trust, right?

Krell chuckled to himself. “And now my little research project will finally come to fruition… CT-5555?”

Fives narrowed their eyes at the jedi. “How do you-”

Krell blazed on through Fives’ questioning. “Execute order 54 on CT-1409.”

Echo saw the shift immediately. As soon as the jedi said Echo’s own number, Fives froze for a good second, during which Krell had shoved Echo a good three meters away from them with the force. After the moment of stillness, Fives ran forwards and lunged for Echo’s throat, hands grasping at xyr life. Echo dodged the sudden attack, but Fives’ face sported an expression so angry that Echo had only ever seen it delivered to the backs of the old trainers. If the fact that something was wrong wasn't clear enough from Fives randomly attacking their twin, the way Fives’ eyes erratically flickered between staring intently at Echo and desperately searching the room for something made it certain. 

“CT-1409, execute order 54 on CT-5555,” Krell commanded, almost lazily. 

Echo braced xemself for whatever had happened to Fives, but they felt no change in their thoughts or actions. They dodged another frenzied attempt on their life from their twin, wondering hysterically what exactly Krell had put in Fives’ caf. 

“Damn Kaminoan meddling,” Krell hissed as he realized Echo had not been affected. 

Before Echo could even think to react, Krell swept them up off their feet and knocked them out with an efficient slam of their head into a wall.

* * *

Cody woke up to pressure on his throat, like his sheets had wound tight and were now constricting the air out of him. As he opened his eyes, however, he found that it was not his sheets that were trying to murder him in his sleep, but a _vod._

Even half asleep, Cody was able to efficiently throw their _vod_ off of them and scramble out of the way. Squinting in the darkness, they slowly tried to identify who exactly it was. 

_Too young for Rex, too old for Boba. Standard haircut, is that a goatee…?_

“Fives?!” Cody exclaimed as soon as he realized who was looking at him with a face so screwed up in hate that not even Boba throwing a tantrum could compare. And that, Cody realized, was why they hadn’t recognized Fives. Because this was _not_ how Fives held themself, not at all. A shiver wracked its way through Cody’s entire body, right before he had to dodge yet another attempt to end his life. 

Cody vaguely remembered that they weren’t in this room alone, even though Fox’s snores were missing. Rex began to stir at the commotion, and as Cody turned to look at him, Fives launched themself at Cody again. 

Cody would be lying if they ever tried to downplay their skill in hand to hand combat. There was no way to really be sure who was the best out of a million _vode_ , but Cody sat comfortably within a high percentile that was only starting to slip because of age. Fives’ attempts on Cody's life weren't completely fruitless, though. Cody already knew how well they fought from several spars since arriving at the temple, and Fives was not moving at all like that now. Cody could see the pure and basic abilities in Fives’ attempts, but their style had been all but stripped in favor of ruthless and reckless movements aimed to kill. 

The door had opened at some point and Cody found himself running from Fives. The most dangerous part of the fight had been the fact that Cody had no intentions to harm such an obviously compromised Fives, while Fives themself was comprised of nothing but the intent to kill. 

Rex followed, now just as awake as Cody. He slammed on the doors to the rooms belonging to Domino and Boba and 99, yelling for everyone to wake up. It seemed to work well. The only _vod_ who hadn't been trained to wake instantly in light of emergencies was Boba, who was instead trained to wake at a drop of a pin. Cody kept running, and Fives kept chasing, but soon Rex had caught up just enough to safely tackle Fives to the ground. 

It was only then that Cody was allowed to actually think about what the fuck was going on. Fives was… Someone _did_ something to them, that much was for sure. They were being mind controlled, and in a temple full of jedi, it wasn't hard to imagine how. This Fives was not Fives. Their eyes danced around the room erratically, a heavy snarl contorted their face, and they were also trying very hard to kill Cody, which was not a very Fives thing to do. 

It was also fairly clear that their goal was only Cody: Rex was only a passing thought as Fives tried to claw out of his arms, their arriving batchmates just as invisible. Cody slowly crept away from Fives’ line of sight. Their head swiveled around to follow Cody immediately, but Rex quickly caught and held poor Fives’ head forwards and still. Cody slipped into a nearby closet and kept an ear held up to the door. 

The response was immediate.

“ _Where_ is the traitor?” Fives demanded. They barely sounded like themself, barely even sounded like a _vod_.

“Traitor to what?” Rex asked quickly.

“To the Republic, you di’kut,” Fives snapped, and to Cody's surprise, they almost sounded like themself. The only thing that discredited that theory was the utter nonsense that came out of their mouth. 

Rex sounded to be just as surprised at the shift as Cody. “Fives, _vod_ , do you… Know who I am?”

“What kind of question is that? You're--” Fives stuttered for a good, long, frightening second. “I don't think I ever caught your CT number, Rex.”

And Fives was gone again. Of course. Rex sighed, a silent refusal. 

“Where is the Commander?” 

“Why do you want… The Commander?” Rex asked.

“It has recently been revealed that the GAR is corrupt all the way to the top. With the removal of the Commander, we can begin to ensure the integrity of the military.”

The wording sounded almost Kaminoan. There was a long pause before Rex spoke again. 

“...Forget I asked. You should relax a bit. The commander won't be back for a few hours.”

“Where is he?” Cody could hear the desperation in Fives’ voice, which was terrifying, considering what exactly they were trying to do. 

“They’ll be back soon,” Rex repeated firmly, “you can’t do anything about it now.”

“Thank you, sir.” Fives muttered, almost too quiet for Cody to hear. The amount of relief in the statement was still so hard to miss.

“Thank _you_ , Fives. I’ll see what I can do to uh... Locate Cody.” 

Apparently that just meant joining Cody in the closet. Rex leaned his forehead against the door as soon as it shut. 

“I can’t fucking do this,” Rex whispered. 

“At least they aren’t trying to kill you,” Cody whispered right on back, hoping their voice wouldn’t pass through the door and set off Fives. 

“When I told them that you were gone they looked like they were close to strangling me.” 

Cody sighed, attention drifting to the conversation just outside. It almost sounded normal, except for when Fives attempted to say any names. They would pause for a good five seconds every time and then eventually sputter out a number.

“Why do you keep calling us by our numbers, _vod?”_ Bait finally asked. She was good at covering up just how _upset_ she was, but not good enough. 

“What else would I call you, CT-2010?” 

A growl of frustration came from someone, probably Cutup.

“Hey wait,” Hevy started, fear lacing xyr voice, “where’s Echo? Xe was with you, right?”

There was a beat of silence, and when Fives spoke again it was clear that any bit of them that had been left over had been erased. 

“Good soldiers follow orders.”

Cody heard something getting knocked around and belatedly realized that it was Fives.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cutup yelled. “What did you do to Echo? What the fuck did you do to _Fives?_ ”

“Good soldiers… follow orders.” 

“You’ve never been a good soldier in your life and you sure as stars aren’t starting now.” Cutup hissed, their fear and upset curdling into anger. 

Rex flung the closet door open to reveal Cutup holding Fives up to the wall with Bait and Hevy gently urging him to be more careful with their _vod_. Rex strode up to them with a clear intention to intervene Cutup’s outrage, but in his split second decision, he had forgotten that Cody was also in that closet. Fives was now aware of their presence nearby. 

“Traitor!” Fives yelled, and they all found themselves back where they’d started. 

Cody couldn't do much more than stare at Fives, once again being held back by Rex. A bout of nausea settled in Cody's stomach as their mind ran through all the terrible ends to the nightmare before them. 

Another set of running footsteps suddenly emerged from down the hallway. Cody thought it might be Boba, for a split second, before they suddenly remembered that he and 99 had gone out on some short trip that morning, not planning to be back for a few days. It was all very secretive, but Cody had some hunches. 

The newcomer wasn't a _vod_ , and it took Cody a few seconds to recognize him without his little twins running along right behind him. It was Anakin, the only neighbor the _vode_ could potentially wake up with all the shouting and throwing people against walls. 

“What's going on?” He was clearly half asleep, but still, he was just awake enough to sound concerned. 

“Fives… Something's wrong with them.” Cody tried to explain, feeling more desperate than they wanted to admit. “Something, someone… Something's controlling them. Possessing them. _Something.”_

Anakin was awake in an instant, walking over towards Fives. Cody realized Anakin hadn't had much of a chance to meet all of the _vode_ considering he had only been at the temple for a day. It was fairly easy to recognize which of them was being mind controlled, but Cody wished he could've had a chance to actually… Meet Fives. 

“This isn’t the work of a force user,” Anakin started, his hands gently resting on Fives’ forehead, “they're fighting way too hard for anyone to be able to consistently hold such a precise control.”

“Then what is it?” Cutup asked, still visibly shaken.

Anakin shrugged weakly, looking at Fives’ snarl thoughtfully. “I… Don't know. I have some hunches, but whatever it is it isn't good.” He sighed. “I'm not supposed to do this but…”

Anakin pressed their fingers gently into Fives’ forehead and their eyes rolled up into their head before they collapsed in Rex’ arms. 

“Should be a pretty peaceful, dreamless sleep,” Anakin sighed. “Not sure what else to do with them.”

Rex gently placed Fives on the floor and stood up with a frown on his face. “So you're a force user? But not a Jedi.”

“Used to be one. I'm not really supposed to mess with people's minds like that now that I'm not but I figured this was an emergency.”

“You can just… Leave the order?” Rex asked.

“If your therapist is determined enough, sure.” Anakin replied with a distracted shrug. “We should get Fives to the mind-healers, they’ll be able to determine what’s affecting them much more accurately than I can.”

Rex was nodding along, but a sudden feeling of unease started to settle into Cody’s chest. Whatever was going on with Fives seemed to be, as much as Cody loathed to admit it, something to do with the fact that they were all created to be soldiers. Whatever it was must’ve been Kaminoan in origin, and they would have to return to determine what, exactly, it was. 

“The mind-healers won’t help.” Cody said bluntly. It was best to get it out of the way first. “We’re going back to Kamino, the only doctors that’ll know what’s going on will be there.”

Rex looked pained at the suggestion, but didn’t argue. Because Cody was right, and he knew it.

“What about Echo?” Hevy asked, voice barely louder than a whisper.

Cody let their harsh tone fade into something more comforting. Domino was down two _vode_ , and Cutup was still clearly upset, looking down at a sleeping Fives with a look filled with fear, pity, and pain. “We can split up, some of us with Fives, some of us looking for Echo back here. Not all of us have to go back.”

Hevy sighed, xe didn’t look quite convinced, but didn’t argue.

“This is all great,” Anakin started, not at all sounding like he thought any of what had been planned was great, “but the council is still in the middle of making their decision. You’re going to have to tell them if you’re leaving, and they’re going to learn about this. And that won’t be a good thing.”

Cody sighed. “It’s not like we have much of a choice. Maybe they'll appreciate us being transparent.”

“Sure,” Anakin said with a humorless laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for having cody in the closet for a good fourth of this chapter, i promise you they are out and proud as both nonbinary and gay. ALSO sorry for having fives infodump right before All That happened. hopefully i'll be able to write adhd domino squad in a less terrifying context. 
> 
> Mando'a:  
> jetii'kade: lightsabers  
> vod: sibling (vode plural)  
> mandokar: the "right stuff," (the epitome of Mando virtue - a blend of aggression, tenacity, loyalty and a lust for life) used in this context purely as a word for general Mandalorian culture.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now for something a little different

“Hey, Dogma?”

Dogma’s eyes snapped open at the voice of es brother. Even as low as possible, Tup’s voice had a loud, grating undertone that gave away its artificial nature. The synthetic voice made many _vode_ uncomfortable, but Dogma knew that if Tup still had his original one, all e would be able to hear would be 'good soldiers follow orders.’ It was better this way. 

Dogma sleepily hummed to let es twin know e was listening. Tup must've felt em jump at his voice considering the two were lying back to back, but e wanted to make sure he knew e was fine. 

“Did you hear about Slick?”

Dogma didn't respond to that for a good while. He hadn't heard that name in a while. Plenty of _vode_ shared the same names, but sometimes a _vod_ would become so well known that their name started dying out with everyone else; _vode_ with the name already would change it to avoid confusion or association and cadets wouldn't touch them when they were earning their own names. So there was only one Slick, for better or worse, and he was dead. 

“What am I supposed to be hearing about a dead man?” Dogma scoffed. 

“With talk of revolt starting up again, people are talking about him again, of course,” Tup began slowly, “but as slicers have gotten deeper into _Kaminii_ files, an ‘unused’ room in medical was found holding a hibernation pod and… Slick was inside. Alive. His last memories are about four years old.”

“ _Kaminiise_ don't take prisoners.” Dogma rebutted automatically. If a clone was defective enough they were decommissioned or reconditioned. There was no third option. 

“Apparently there’s exceptions, and putting someone in hibernation takes considerably less resources than traditional imprisonment. Slick was a big deal you know, he _is_ a big deal.”

“I know,” Dogma replied icily, “considering I was the one who shot him in the arm.”

Tup didn't respond for a long time. 

“You're a different person now, _vod_ ,” Tup finally said. His modulator had been as quiet as it could go throughout the entire conversation, but somehow what he had said sounded faintly like a whisper. 

“If that were true I would've changed my name years ago.”

Tup sighed. “I know.”

The bunk fell into silence. When was the last time Tup had even gotten close to touching _that_. Tup was so convinced Dogma had changed, that e was different, but e was Dogma, and it had simply been a dangerous case of nominal determinism. For as long as Dogma was Dogma, that would be the case. 

“Why would they even freeze Slick in the first place?” Dogma asked rhetorically. E had no more doubt that Slick was back. No one could make that up. “Did they question him or anything?”

Tup hummed, something that sounded more inorganic than most noises out of the modulator. Dogma remembered having to add it emself after e noticed Tup’s thoughtful hums had suddenly disappeared after the rest of him had returned. “They might've questioned him over the years? Worked with the hibernation sickness? From what I remember hearing though, Slick was- is automatically pretty resistant to pretty much any questioning. Kind of hard to work with, despite everything. I really don't think fogging his mind up would make him any less resistant, it sounded like it was a pretty core quality of his.”

“Maybe that was the idea at first, but then it didn't work and so they just decided to conduct some fucked up experiment,” Dogma suggested. 

“They do tend to find any excuse to start fucking with us...” Tup knew firsthand. “Maybe we can track Slick down tomorrow and ask for ourselves.”

“I wouldn't want to bother him, I don't think he'd appreciate seeing me so soon,” Dogma reminded Tup, unsuccessful in trying to keep the bitterness out of es voice. “Weren't we going to try to figure out what's going on tomorrow anyways?”

“Yeah, you're right… Sorry for bringing him up in the first place.”

Dogma shrugged. “‘S fine. As long as you let me sleep tonight.”

“No promises.”

* * *

Dogma woke up to a very dangerous announcement on es datapad. Actually, e woke up to Tup’s hand dangling dangerously close to es mouth, but after opening up their shared pod bunk and sleepily slipping down to the cubbies below, the announcement was definitely what had em _awake._

The day before had seen some pretty impressive displays of slicing going on, but no one had decided to make it obnoxiously obvious that they'd sliced into the announcement system. Apparently someone had gotten in anyways though, and whoever it was was serious, because what Dogma found on es datapad was not a ten minute long fart and scream sound effect compilation. Or at least, e was pretty sure that wasn't what it was. It was dangerous to underestimate how dedicated some _vode_ were to the art of the prank. 

Tup was awake and out of the twins’ shared pod soon after Dogma turned on es datapad, mostly just because it's hard to sleep if the pod isn’t actually shut after the other person leaves. 

“Anything interesting on there?”

“This is either an in depth plan for an organized revolt or an elaborately disguised prank.”

Tup took a quick look at the thumbnail graphic on the ‘pad before speaking. “It could be both, someone could've put that fart and scream sound effect thing over the purely graphic plans.”

Dogma sighed and played the video in the announcement, bracing emself slightly. Thankfully, there were no screams or farts, just silence to go along with the text on the screen, text that lay out a complex and organized takeover of Tipoca city. The usual.

“...This might actually work this time,” Dogma said as the video continued. “It's pretty solid.”

“What, because you won't be on the other side shooting at the rest of us?” Tup asked with plenty of snark. 

Dogma glared at him. 

“Sorry. You're right. We at least _know_ about our disadvantage this time and this looks to be a good workaround.”

Dogma realized e was almost _excited_ about this. It was nothing like four years ago. Not when they’d first realized that some part of their design dictated that they couldn't lay a finger on a Kaminoan to cause harm, either directly or indirectly. Not when there had been a whole group of _vode_ stuck in the trap of regs and _dogma_ that served as protection towards the system. Not when Dogma had been all too willing to raise a blaster against es siblings.

“We'll have almost complete environmental control of the city. The Kaminoans can’t do _shit_. They can't do shit! There are so many of us, we were trained to work together like this, we were trained by them to fight and now we're going to fight against them. And I’m not going to just stand by either- I have to at _least_ make up for last time.”

Tup put a gentle hand on Dogma’s shoulder. “I never doubted that, but you don’t have to _make up_ for anything. You were just doing what you’ve been trained to do since the moment you were decanted.”

“We were all trained the same way, those of us that sided with the Kaminoans were the minority.”

“More didn't do anything, _vod’ika._ And not everyone is one of the only survivors of their batch and then three subsequent squads. You had a real reason to fear punishment.”

“But _you_ rebelled, Tup. We came out of the same tube, we’ve been in the same squads. Not everything can be excused like that.” 

Tup sighed and changed the subject. “Do you think you're going to release the information you sliced from when I was… Y'know.”

Dogma bit es lip. “I don't… Know how useful it'll be. I honestly don't know what it's talking about half the time, plus, most of the slicing that's been done recently hasn't been for information.”

Tup nodded. “Guess that makes sense. Wish we were able to figure out what was going on with me before they cut open my head… They sure knew what was happening.”

“If something like your incident happens again, I'll release the information. Promise.”

“Good.” Tup swallowed. “I don't want anyone else to go through that, it's terrifying.”

Dogma shivered. “For everyone.” 

Suddenly, one of the other pods above them opened, revealing Jesse and Hardcase. Their moment of privacy was over. 

“Is Kix awake?” Jesse asked as he lowered himself from the bunk. 

“If they are, they're long gone.” Tup responded with a shrug. “You should take a look at your datapad.”

Jesse started making his way towards his cubby. “Weirdo always wakes up so early, I doubt they're sleeping in. This is why I always double up with Hardcase. I pity the kid who has to sleep with… What the fuck is this?”

Dogma didn't look up from es datapad as Jesse first saw the announcement notification on his own. “Not a prank, thankfully.”

Hardcase slinked behind Jesse and let out a low whistle. “This looks _legit_. Who managed to put this together?”

“It just says ‘credits to the command class’ at the end, probably to add some credibility to it while staying somewhat anonymous,” Dogma reasoned.

“Ah yeah, I guess that makes sense. That's some CC level big braining right there. I wonder who did the graphics…”

“You can try to track down the artist later ’Case,” Jesse said, slapping his _vod_ on the back, “we should go eat something. Breakfast should be interesting.”

Tup hummed in agreement and Jesse winced a bit at the noise. The rest of the squad tried their best, but Dogma was really the only one used to the harsher noises Tup’s modulator made. “I think it'll be pretty telling. If things go to shit from the start then, well. There goes a revolution.”

* * *

“Does Kix _ever_ sleep?” Hardcase loudly questioned as the squad moved into the mess and saw none other than Kix speaking with the command class _vod_ that had apparently been sent to the sector. 

Dogma rolled es eyes. Kix couldn't've possibly heard. Plenty of other _vode_ did though, and Dogma silently tried to will their eyes off em. Es tattoo was fairly counterproductive in that regard. 

“Pretty young for the command class, definitely not a CC,” Jesse commented, gently ignoring Hardcase’s antics and tactfully maneuvering to nudge Tup, not Dogma. “I'd say they look around your age, yeah?” 

Dogma appreciated the respect for personal space, but still responded first. “Pauldron and kama suggest they'd be a captain in active duty, but I can't see their bucket so who knows…. You're right about them being too young for a CC though, so they're probably a captain.”

“Dare me to go up to them and compare faces to see who's older?” Tup asked.

“Fuck yeah, take some holos of Kix’s reaction if they're good,” Jesse responded with a laugh. 

Hardcase spun around. “Wait, what's Tup doing this time?”

“Harassing the command class kid,” Dogma responded bluntly, beginning to maneuver over towards the food line. 

Hardcase snorted. “Yeah okay, that's worth holos. Or just seeing in person. You mind getting me breakfast, _vod?”_

“You know I can’t do that Hardcase,” Dogma said with a sigh, but Hardcase had already disappeared. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Go over the plan. The current objective was to lure a longneck into the trap of standing in a big circle and restricting their movement in order to make the demands that would be repeated all over the facility that day. If there were enough of them, it would work. Even if they couldn’t cause the Kaminoan harm, they would be able to prevent them from being able to move. From being able to eat or drink if it became necessary. Simple enough, all Dogma really needed to do was be there. They had numbers. They had time. That's what they were using. 

Also the ability to lock doors remotely. Dogma wondered how many _vode_ were watching right now, right under the Kaminoan’s noses. Nostrils. Whatever. There were plenty of _vode,_ but Dogma didn't know how many of them could slice. Some of the older _vode_ who were expected to be shipped out as soon as they turned ten were taught the basics in more specialized ARC training, but the whole ARC program had been suspended until whenever the war started. Probably so the _k_ _aminiise_ didn't have to deal with anyone too competent around. _Vode_ still learned how to slice though, one way or another. Dogma knew how to, and e started rolling around the idea of joining the relatively unconnected army of slicers that had materialized over the last few days while e got es food and sat down. 

The rest of Dogma’s squad, Cirrus Squad, joined Dogma eventually. The command class kid was named Vaughn, they/them, and was thirteen, just like the twins. They were one of the last _vode_ to be switched into the track, right when they were around five, and right about when the war was _supposed_ to begin. Tup had apparently scared the living shit out of them with his antics, and Dogma wanted to take a nap an hour after waking up. 

Tup scooted over to Dogma and planted a little kiss on e’s forehead when he noticed how withdrawn e was. Cirrus was a good squad, better than a lot of squads the twins had been in prior, but sometimes they were all just… Loud and tiring. Well, except for Kix. Tup definitely started to open up more after joining the squad, but Dogma never felt like e ever meshed with them all, despite how hard they tried to include em in things. Except for Kix. Dogma would try to familiarize emself with them, they were both sort of quiet and broody, but Dogma had a feeling they'd try to dissect all es angst. Kix was pretty much a medic in every single aspect of their life (including their hair!) and that terrified Dogma. 

“You want to go back to the pods?” Tup asked quietly, gesturing to the _vode_ quietly leaving the mess, done eating and not wanting to get involved. “we're refusing to go to training today anyways, and we're probably going to just be sitting in the mess for hours.”

Dogma sighed and leaned onto Tup. “I'm going to help out, even if it just means sitting around. I can take it, it's fine.” 

“Are you sure? You could still start trying to slice down by the cubbies if we go back. That'll still be helping.”

“It's not-- this is direct, Tup. I can slice later.”

Tup didn't look convinced. 

“I'll at least stay until a longneck shows up and help start the circling. If it becomes too much I'll leave.”

“Alright, don't hurt yourself.” Tup looked just as satisfied as he could be when he felt like Dogma was pushing emself. 

Dogma waved away the concern and ate, concentrating more on the bland food than anything else. There was an energy in the room that kept Dogma from drowning under the volume of the _vode_ that carried it. It was partially composed of anticipation, fear, excitement… And that was to be expected, but what kept Dogma there was the hope, and how it charged up the room like electricity. 

The longneck finally made their appearance with the most fury Dogma had ever seen on a _k_ _aminii._ They weren't instantly acknowledged by the clones in the room, and that made them even madder. They pulled out one of those noise machines the old trainers used to carry around and shut everyone up with a loud blast. 

Silence came, mostly. There were a few traitorous giggles that came from the crowd. Then Vaughn stepped up with a lot more confidence than Dogma would expect from someone who just got harassed by Tup. 

“We only have a few demands,” Vaughn started, reminding everyone there that they were, in fact, in the command class. “First, freedom to leave Tipoca City and Kamino. Second, completely unrestricted, untraced access to the holonet. Third, our freedom and personhood. And fourth? Tipoca City itself.”

That was the cue. Everyone got up from their seats and slowly corralled the longneck towards the center of the mess, moving tables and chairs along the way. The longneck obliged, not really looking all too worried. 

“Now what?” The longneck asked when the group stopped, leaving the scientist in an open circle with a diameter of around two meters. “You can't keep me here forever.”

“No, we can't,” Vaughn admitted, “but you can't stay there forever either.”

The group cheered at that, and even as Dogma covered es ears, e let out a loud _“Oya!”_ with an exhilarated laugh. Despite being pressed up next to Tup, Hardcase, and an average of three strangers, despite the noise, Dogma was glad e wasn't missing any of it. 

Vaughn stepped back and the group let them out easily. They were moving on to the harder part of their job, command class _vode_ weren't just being used to stand around and look pretty after all. They surveyed the crowd and had about two thirds of the group step out of the mass of bodies. Dogma was included in that majority, and quickly let out a sigh of relief. Vaughn had to make sure the _vode_ that were encircling the longneck were always able to keep them from leaving, and that meant setting up shifts. They were all designed and trained to be on their feet for hours on end, but they'd need more than a few hours, and they couldn't dare tire out. 

It turned out the entirety of Cirrus squad was taken out of the circle. Dogma was still laughing in disbelief. This was happening! They were really doing it! Hardcase swooped over to Dogma, sensing es excitement. 

“I've never seen you so happy, Dogma!” 

“...Is that a bad thing?” Dogma asked wearily. Hardcase was… Well. The opposite of Dogma, and Dogma didn't exactly have a good track record with any happy-go-luckies in previous squads. 

Hardcase shook her head quickly. “No, not at all! I just didn't realize you were such a rebel.”

Dogma hummed. “Didn't used to be.”

“Well, I'm glad you're here with us now, _vod’ika,”_ Hardcase concluded warmly. 

“Me too.”

Kix was glancing over at Vaughn occasionally as the rest of the squad chatted. As Dogma’s conversation with Hardcase slowed down, e silently wondered what exactly Kix had talked to Vaughn about so early in the morning. 

As if hearing Dogma’s thoughts, Kix started talking to em. 

“Vaughn says they'll need medics officially affiliated with the revolt. Pretty much the entirety of the command class is actively participating in everything, so they want to make it clear that anyone can trust any of them just by seeing their armor.”

“Isn't that kind of dangerous? For the command class?” Dogma asked, a worried frown tugging at es mouth. 

Kix shrugged. “They're too important to the _k_ _aminiise_. It's still a risk, but the fact that it's all of them helps too. They could get rid of just a few of us without problems, but not that specific small percentage. Anyways, that's why I'm going to risk my life by painting the rebel medic symbol on the chest of my _beskar'gam_ tomorrow.”

“Be careful,” Dogma muttered. “How many _vode_ do you think are going to be hurt during this?” 

“Too many. Any is too many, and there's no chance we'll get out of this unscathed.”

“And that's why you have to help, right?”

Kix nodded. A medic in every aspect of their life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for leaving everything on a cliffhanger last chapter and then switching over to kamino completely out of nowhere! except im not really sorry i've been planning to do this for months lol.  
> just to be clear- tup's chip went crazy after the first failed revolt and the kaminoans started experimenting on clones after dealing with tup. his throat being messed with/the voice modulator they put in was all just random experimenting like with echo, not related to the chip at all.  
> also how do you all feel about me potentially changing dogma's name as es character arc progresses? i've alluded to em having a lot of baggage with es name here, but i'm kind of hesitant to change the name of a canon characters name (also i'd have to come up with ideas for a new one, but that just means i gotta think)
> 
> Mando'a translations:  
> vod- sibling (vode plural)  
> kaminii- kaminoan (kaminiise plural)  
> vod'ika- little sibling  
> Oya!- Many meanings: literally "Let’s hunt!" and also "Stay alive!", but also "Hoorah!", "Go you!" Always positive and triumphant.  
> beskar'gam- armor


End file.
